World leaders note Sri Lankan press abuses

Sri Lanka got
special mention in the statements of world leaders marking World Press Freedom
Day, May 3. It's not surprising. The government in Colombo has coupled an all-out effort to end its
war with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with an assault on critics
in the Sri Lankan media. U.S. President Barack
Obama's statement mentioned the egregious case of J.S. Tissainayagam, on
trial in Colombo
and accused of terrorism because of his writing.

Obama
cites this and other cases as examples of press freedom abuses worldwide.

Emblematic examples of this distressing reality are
figures like J.S.Tissainayagam in Sri Lanka,
or Shi Tao and Hu Jia in China.We are also especially concerned about the
citizens from our own country currently under detention abroad:individuals such as Roxana Saberi in Iran, and Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North Korea.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Adam Schiff, one of the founders of
the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press, also mentioned Tissa, among
several others, in his remarks for World Press Freedom Day. "His trial is set
to resume on May 6, but it is our hope the Sri Lankan government will drop
these baseless charges and release J.S. before the trial resumes," the California congressman said.

Ban
cited CPJ's statistics to press the government for a full investigation into
Lasantha's death: "According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 11
journalists have been killed in the line of duty so far this year. Among them
was Lasantha Wickramatunga, a prominent Sri Lankan journalist assassinated in
January on his way to work," Ban's statement said.

And
on May 3, the United Nations posthumously awarded Lasantha its UNESCO 2009 World
Press Freedom Prize for his work. The
decision to name Lasantha was made in April, by a global panel of 14
judges.

Lasantha's
wife, Sonali Samarasinghe Wickremetunge, did not attend the UNESCO ceremony in Doha for what she said
were "unavoidable circumstances." But her statement was read by her niece,
Natalie Samarasinghe. (We've posted her full statement here) Her eloquence is
fitting for the nature of the award and as a way to commemorate her husband's
killing and her country's suffering:

The free Sri
Lanka in which I was born no longer exists.
Our country has entered a Dark Age characterized by tyranny and state-sponsored
terror, where the government publicly, cynically and unapologetically equates
democratic dissent to treason. The sinister white van in which the state
abducts its perceived enemies including journalists, many of them never to be
seen again, has become a symbol of untold dread. Yet, we need to remember that
violence against journalists is only the tip of the iceberg. Tens of thousands
of ordinary Sri Lankan civilians--men, women, children, and the aged--have been
herded into concentration camps where they are held against their will. There
they languish in the most horrible of conditions, trapped behind barbed-wire
fences and beneath the radar of a world which, perhaps rightly, is more
concerned with the arguably greater tragedies unfolding in places such as Darfur.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.

Comments

Lasanth Wickramathunga represented the zenith of journelistic independence, honesty and fearless exposure of events as they happen. It is sad such a giant is no more and the hands that silenced him are still at work choking and silencing many less known yet fearless journelists. May LJ's soul rest in peace knowing that people of fairness exist all over the world and that his legacy will not be forgotten.